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For Immediate Release
New Telecom Computing Architecture Initiative Announced
by Industry-Leading CompactPCI / PICMG 2.16 Providers
Fremont, Calif. - January 8, 2003 - - ZNYX Networks,
Inc. and a group of industry-leading communications platform and component
providers announced today an initiative called Compact Telecommunications
Computing Architecture, or ?CompactTCA?. The objective of the proposal
is to clearly define an embedded system platform specification, which
combines several existing CompactPCI specifications from the PCI Industrial
Computer Manufacturers Group (PICMG) into a single standard.
Sponsor companies for the CompactTCA initiative
include Force Computers, Motorola Computer Group, Performance Technologies,
Pigeon Point Systems, StarGen and ZNYX Networks. The group expects
to propose CompactTCA as a formal PICMG activity in early Q1 2003.
The key element of the CompactTCA specification
is that it retains compatibility with most existing CompactPCI/PICMG
2.16 products. CompactTCA ultimately combines several disparate CompactPCI
specifications into a single standard, ensuring interoperability and
the high availability and scalability attributes of packet switched
technology in the proven, lower cost CompactPCI/PICMG 2.16 form factor.
The proposed CompactTCA architecture complements
AdvancedTCA by featuring PICMG 2.16 packet switching as the primary
interconnect, mandatory system management, and elimination of the
PCI bus for data transfer. The group will propose several enhancements
that maintain backward compatibility with existing CompactPCI/PICMG
2.16 products. Developers will choose CompactTCA or AdvancedTCA based
on application requirements, and leverage common features to migrate
applications between the two platform standards.
In addition, the CompactTCA specification will
permit the use of optional auxiliary data interconnects compliant
with PICMG 2.5, PICMG 2.17 and PICMG 2.20. Concurrent use of PICMG
2.15-compliant PMCs and PMC carriers will also be supported as an
option.
Additional Quotes from Sponsor Companies
?With the similarities between CompactTCA and AdvancedTCA,
the two system architectures in principal are software compatible,
which allows designers to use either for future systems,? said Chris
Williams, vice president and general manager of Worldwide Strategic/Product
Marketing and Engineering of Force Computers. ?With CompactTCA focusing
on Ethernet as the backplane communication instead of the PCI bus,
provisioning of High Availability systems is greatly facilitated with
respect to hot swap, signal integrity and corresponding software support.?
?Backward compatibility to CompactPCI/PICMG 2.16
is key to the success of CompactTCA,? said Jeff Rhodes, business manager
of Motorola Computer Group. ?The telecommunication industry has already
adopted these standards and a wide variety of compatible products
exist from multiple vendors.?
?CompactTCA is based on existing CompactPCI/PICMG
2.16 specifications, so products exist now,? said Jim Medeiros, general
manager of the Computing Products Group of Performance Technologies,
and PICMG 2.0 and 3.0 co-chair. ?We expect both CompactTCA and AdvancedTCA
products to support a wide spectrum of standards-based compute and
server applications for years to come.?
?The mandatory system management features of CompactTCA
are a critical part of ensuring a solid, compatible base for high
availability systems based on this architecture,? said Mark Overgaard,
president of Pigeon Point Systems. ?The CompactTCA management architecture
aims for compatibility with both: 1) the management framework for
AdvancedTCA and 2) the key management facilities already defined in
the PICMG 2.x family of specifications.?
?Support for optional auxiliary data interconnects
is a fundamental strength of the CompactTCA specification,? said Tim
Miller, vice president of Marketing and Sales of StarGen, Inc. ?We
are experiencing tremendous demand for StarFabric as a data plane
interconnect in communication access platforms. Through compatibility
with the PICMG 2.17 StarFabric CompactPCI specification customers
can access the benefits of a StarFabric data plane while adopting
the standardized system management features of CompactTCA. ?
?CompactTCA gives us a way to provide a solution
even more robust than our existing PICMG 2.16 offerings,? said Alan
Deikman, chief technical officer for ZNYX Networks. ?Customers need
time-to-market and open standards, but cannot compromise on carrier
class features. CompactTCA allows our products to fill that need.?
About the Companies
Force Computers
Force Computers was founded in 1981 and is a leading
designer and worldwide supplier of open-standards-based and custom
board- and system-level embedded computing solutions. Please see www.forcecomputers.com
for details.
Motorola Computer Group
Motorola Computer Group, a business unit of the
Motorola Integrated Electronic Systems Sector (IESS), is leading the
innovation of intelligent building blocks for standards-based embedded
computing. More information can be found at www.motorola.com/computer.
Performance Technologies
Performance Technologies is a global supplier of
innovative, packet-based computing, communications and networking
equipment to companies developing communications, industrial, enterprise
and military applications. For more information about Performance
Technologies, visit www.pt.com.
Pigeon Point Systems
Pigeon Point Systems provides products and services
that enable cost-effective management of standards-based platforms?CompactPCI,
AdvancedTCA, soon CompactTCA?and is a leader in the definition of
those platforms. Please visit www.pigeonpoint.com for more information.
StarGen
StarGen is a fabless semiconductor company that
has developed a new switched interconnect technology, StarFabric,
for the communication and embedded industries. The technology benefits
vendors of carrier and enterprise communication platforms for next-generation
voice, data, and video networks. Please see www.stargen.com for details.
ZNYX Networks
ZNYX Networks is the leading global provider of
high availability embedded Ethernet solutions for CarrierClass? systems.
Featuring the OpenArchitect? control plane software suite, ZNYX Networks
products provide advanced high availability features extensive networking
protocol support using an open standard Linux environment. See www.znyx.com.
####
OpenArchitect™ and CarrierClass™ are
trademarks of ZNYX Networks, Inc. Other company or product names may
be trademarks of their respective holders.
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